Harrison Ceramics Club Grows By Leaps and Bounds

senior Cassandra Allen fell in love with ceramics after taking a class during her sophomore year. 

Now, she and about 30 other art students meet after school every week to work on projects and share their passion for the art form. The club has grown in membership under the direction of art teacher Kimmi Dukes, but the students have grown as artists as well. 

Allen said she finds herself looking at things differently, because of the perspective she has gained working in ceramics. Often, she'll spot something in a store that she'd like to recreate, then take a photo and send it to other club members.

For her, ceramics is "kind of like an escape from all your academic classes." 

For Courtney Hoelscher, also a senior, taking ceramics has led to something much greater than acquiring a new hobby. 

"I decided I'm going to continue with ceramics in college," she said, adding she is considering a career in the field of art therapy. "Definitely, this class inspired me."

Dukes said in addition to supporting their interest in art, the club "makes them feel a greater sense of ownership in the school." In fact, senior Maria Borri calls it "my home at school". 

Borri is among several students who have acquired their own pottery wheels. Seniors Maddy Cleary and Diana Naeem have entered their work in competition. Naeem won Silver Keys for two pieces she entered in the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Scholastic Art & Writing Awards southeast Michigan regional competition.

Cleary's ceramics portfolio won a Gold Key, the competition's top honor. That's rare, Dukes said, because Gold Key portfolios are almost always awarded for drawing, painting, and photography.

Both Naeem and Cleary credit Dukes with encouraging them to enter their work in competition. Borri believes the teacher is also responsible for the growth in the popularity of ceramics at Harrison.

But Dukes believes the art form inspires and attracts the students. 

"It's that they get to start with a blob of clay and turn it in to something beautiful," she said. "It's a transformation that takes a lot of time and care, and by the end of it, they have a completely unique piece that they created with their hands and that they can be really proud of. There's nothing else like it."